Warning: ksort() expects parameter 1 to be array, object given in /home/content/15/9978615/html/wp-content/plugins/bbpress/includes/core/template-functions.php on line 316Connect People Network | Homepage of Connect People Network, Ireland

Search

Welcome!

Connect People Network

Hello everyone,

All of us in the Connect People Network wanted to let you know our latest news.

You might have noticed that the CPN has been very quiet and has not hosted many events for a few months now. That is because the committee who organise the events and run the CPN have decided that the CPNs time has come to an end.

There are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, the group was set up over 10 years ago to make sure that the law which said that people with extra support needs could not have sex was changed. That has now happened , which we are really happy about.

The other reason it was set up was because there used to be nobody talking about sexuality and disability, and nobody was teaching people with extra support needs about relationships. This has changed now and there are lots of groups doing this, especially Inclusion Ireland.

Now that those two things which we were set up to do are happening, we had to be really honest about why the CPN existed. We also realised that those of us organising the group had been doing it for a very long time. There weren’t enough new people to help the group grow and change.

There are also lots of new rules for charities and we think these are very good, but because we are all volunteers it is very hard to find time to do everything we have to do.

We are really happy that the Self Advocacy Group is going to continue doing talks and working on the topic of relationships. This group will now be a part of Trinity College.

The Social Group will be continuing as an independent group of friends, called Circle of Friends. You can get in contact with Tom if you would like to go to their events. You can email us (cpnireland@gmail.com) to get his number.

So we are now going to start winding the CPN down. We have a lot of legal things to do for that to happen which is taking a long time. All of the money in our bank account when we have finished doing this will be donated to the Self Advocacy Group so it can keep going in Trinity.

We hope that you can all understand why we have made this decision. It is a little bit sad when things come to an end but we are really happy that groups like Inclusion Ireland and our Self Advocacy Group can keep going.

We will have a final meeting of the CPN to say goodbye to it in a few months. You will all have a chance to meet up and talk about the group. We know that there are things about the CPN that people will miss. If you want some help to find other groups we can help with that.

We want to thank everyone who has been a part of the CPN for any length of time. You made us into the group we are, and helped us be successful in our goals.